


Kevamie Reverse! Royalty au

by McFaye



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 11:55:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13810674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McFaye/pseuds/McFaye





	1. Chapter 1

My friend @invadernav suggested a reverse royalty au and I had to.—

Kevin looked out the window of the car as he was driven through the city. He looked at buildings and people that passed by. The buildings appeared less and less as they got closer to the castle. He wouldn’t have had the opportunity for this butler job if his parents didn’t know so many people. Of course they didn’t actually know the royal family personally, no one did. Some people might have known a few members, but he wouldn’t believe anyone who said they knew the prince. He was shy, and he never addressed the public in any scenario, his parents were always in charge. But now that he was older, they decided he needed a butler, and due to his connections Kevin had landed the job. Of course he didn’t like cleaning but even being in the castle won him big bragging rights.

Suddenly the car came to a start and looked forward out the window at the fancy castle. He picked up the bag on the seat next to him and left his Dad’s car without a word exchanged. Kevin began hiking up the long walk to the castle. There were flowers arranged neatly all over the lawn. He got to front door, decked out in swirls and spirals of silver. He knocked and waited. He stood there for about a minute waiting. Looking back the car was gone already. He had no choice but to wait. Then he heard the faint sound of footsteps on marble getting louder and closer. He was greeted by a tall woman in royal garb. The queen.

She was overly kind, as if trying to cover something up. He awkwardly responded to her when she asked questions about him. He didn’t understand people who were so nice, it made him nervous. No human should be that cheery. Finally, she directed him to the hall with the prince’s room. It was at the end of a long hall, with side tables with silver ornaments placed aesthetically on them. It seemed weird that everything was silver. If he was a prince, it’d be gold for sure. Maybe he could convince the decorator to put some in. Everything looked chrome and bleak to him, a weird kind of futuristic. The door was slightly ajar, and Kevin took that as a sign he could enter.

“Okay, here Snazzy. Good girl.” There was the prince, feeding a lizard in a tank some bugs, baby talking it like it was a dog. Not to mention he had named it Snazzy, and he had to fight against snickering. However, the icing on the cake was when he went to mirror and began rehearsing for how he’d greet him, or at least he assumed so, unaware he was standing in the doorway.

“Alright. Hello. Hello. Hi, hey.” He shook his head.

“Howdy.” He raised and then lowered finger guns, looking disappointed in himself as a person, berating himself for being weird. Perhaps now was a good time to intervene. He knocked against the wall to signal that he was there. He swore the look on Jamie’s face when he realized he wasn’t alone was priceless. It should have been displayed with the silver.

“Uh,, howdy hey!” This greeting was immediately followed with a look expressing that he’d never be able to live this moment down. Kevin finally let himself laugh. It was funny after all.

“Howdy hey yourself. I’m your butler, Kevin. It’s a pleasure to serve you.” He stretched out his hand for Jamie to shake, which he did nervously. After all he did just majorly embarrass himself by talking to his lizard and to his mirror.

“Yes, I was told you’d be coming later. I assumed I would have been called to meet you in the main room.” Kevin shrugged. He had assumed he would be meeting him more formally as well. But if they were going to be together almost all the time during the day, getting to know just how much of a nerd he was right away just cut out the middleman for them both. 

“So, do you get any geekier or was that the height of it?” Jamie’s face flushed with embarrassment. He most certainly did get geekier, but he didn’t want to give Kevin any more reasons to make fun of him. Now was a better time than any to convince him that he was a cool and controlled prince. He cleared his throat and slightly deepened his voice, to seem cooler of course.

“As you’ve probably been able to guess, this is my room. I uh, I sleep in here.” Even when trying to be cool he failed miserably, awkward pauses in between descriptions of objects.

“Uh, this is my lizard, Snazzy.” Kevin couldn’t help laughing even though he’d seen him baby talk it earlier.

“That’s a pretty snazzy name. Although if my owner called me that I’d probably just fling the cricket right back at him.” He pointed to a cricket that Snazzy was slowly advancing on. Kevin was joking with Jamie right from the start, but Jamie was trying desperately to make it appear like he was capable of a professional relationship. 

Jamie led him around the rest of his segment of the castle. His bathroom, meeting room, office, etc. Kevin was used to having his own bathroom, but if he went into the kitchen his parents wouldn’t leave him alone. At least Jamie didn’t have to talk to them as much, and he envied him for that. Although it was a little weird that theoretically he could survive just staying by himself in his little segment of the castle for probably months. The public barely saw any of him, maybe that was why, but he couldn’t be convinced that this man wasn’t sociable at all. He was so endearing, he seemed like he really enjoyed talking to Kevin.

“And that’s pretty much it. Most of the time we’ll be sticking to my side of the place though, so you’ll have to get used to it over there.” Jamie almost felt bad getting a butler. He told his parents he didn’t need one but apparently one of the rules of being royal was that you had to have at least one person at your beck and call. Sure it would be nice not to have to clean up after himself but Kevin would be following him around all day every day, and Jamie was bound to become boring or run out of things to say.

Kevin looked out the large wall sized windows. It was already evening, and the sky was bathed in a rose color as it darkened. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was supposed to do at this point. It didn’t seem like Jamie really needed to be taken care of very much. The only thing he could think to do at the moment was clean something. There wasn’t much else to do. 

“So, is there anything you need me to do right now?” Jamie looked around.

“Not right now, I think you could just go to your room then. Get settled in?”

Kevin nodded. He tried to remember which hallway led to where he’d be staying. When he began walking towards it he looked back to Jamie as if to make sure he was going the right direction. He got no varied expression but a nervous smile. He kept going, cautiously glancing at every door on both sides of the hallway for any landmark that he remembered. Any slight dent in the wall he could use as reference didn’t show up.

“The empty room is the second door to the left.” Kevin turned around to see another butler behind him with small glasses and hair in the shape of curly fries.

“Uh, thanks.” He counted the doors on the left and walked up to the second, and was then stopped.

“Second from the other left.” 

Kevin frowned. He couldn’t tell if this man was giving him the runaround on purpose or not. He went to the other side of the hall and grabbed the doorknob on the designated room and turned it. He slammed the door behind him and looked around at what he had. The bed wasn’t as large as Jamie’s but it definitely looked as comfortable. The dressers and desktops were empty and his open closet was full of formal and basic outfits, less extravagant than Jamie’s. Which made sense, it would probably be rude to look better than Jamie, or sleep in a better bed.

The sky was even darker now, and he was starting to get a little tired. He didn’t want to sleep yet, but what was he supposed to do until he did? He walked towards the dresser and opened up the top drawer to find a pair of pajamas. Upon picking them up he realized they were silk. He was used to living better than most people, with many expensive amenities, but standing here with a pair of silk pajamas in a castle made him feel like a chump. As he dug deeper into the drawer he also found a silk robe. For the first time in his life, he felt spoiled.

He walked into the side door to look at his bathroom. It was about the same as Jamie’s, but with a more plain color scheme. He opened the mirror cabinet to find basic supplies. Toothbrushes, toothpaste, face cleanser, contact solution, Midol, everything. Kevin picked up an object in a brightly colored wrapper.

“Am I supposed to keep this or..?” He said quietly to himself. At least the castle cared about everyone. 

He raised his hand up to feel his face, and looked back to the face cleanser. He took it out and began to put it on his face when he heard a knock on the door. He quickly washed the substance off his face and went to the front door of his room. Curly fries was back.

“Can I help you?” He adjusted his glasses and scowled.

“I know you’re new, but I hope you know it’s part of your job to stay in the Prince’s room until he falls asleep. It’s your duty to make sure he is safe.”

“Isn’t that the guard’s job?”

“It’s the job of the butler who is assigned to be the right hand man of the prince. The guard’s wait outside the room.” Kevin looked past him and saw a pair of guards outside in the hall, walking back and forth.

“Is he going to sleep now?”

 

“Well his curfew is in five minutes, you better hustle.” Kevin rolled his eyes. He was a royal prince and last time he checked, 21 years old, and he still had a curfew. He looked to his alarm clock which read 8:00. Whoever set this curfew must have not changed the rule since he was eleven years old.

“By the way, what am I supposed to do with this?” 

“Absorb blood from injuries.” Kevin looked down at it again and threw it into his face before moving past him into the hallway.  
\--

He walked past the many doors back to Jamie’s hallway. He saw his reflection distorted in all the decorative silver as he moved past. He knocked on the door and waited for an answer. Jamie answered dressed in silk pajamas and his crown off. He seemed surprised to see him. Jamie himself probably wasn’t aware of all the aspects of Kevin’s job. 

“I believe I’m supposed to stay in here until you fall asleep?” 

“Huh? Uh, yeah, yeah. Come on in.” Kevin walked inside and leaned against the wall as Jamie sat down on his bed. He didn’t look tired at all, he looked anxious.

“So, do I just kinda stand here until you fall asleep?” 

“Yeah, you can sit down if you want though. There’s a chair right there.” Kevin looked at a fancy velvet chair next to him. He sat down with his arms crossed, staring directly at Jamie.

“Stop looking at me like that. You just have to sit there.” Kevin nodded and laid back, relaxing his arms and crossing his legs.

Jamie awkwardly shifted on his bed, pulling back the sheets and getting under them, rolling onto his side. He closed his eyes and sighed. Kevin tried to stop a fond smile from creeping onto his lips. He looked so peaceful and he hadn’t even gotten to sleep yet. Kevin hated to disturb him, but he still wanted to ask him something.

“So who’s the guy with the curly fries hair?” Jamie opened his eyes gently and looked at Kevin.

“I think his name is Ronaldo. He’s the personal butler to my parents. I haven’t really talked to him much, but the conversations we did have were..interesting.” He giggled a little. Jamie had assumed that Kevin had gotten a conspiracy lecture from him.

“I just wouldn’t listen to him at all. He just spouts nonsense.” Kevin nodded. Jamie slowly closed his eyes again and his breathing regulated. 

It was so peaceful, seeing Jamie with the most content look on his face. The gentle movement as he breathed. It was tranquil, Kevin could feel himself getting a little drowsy. As time wore on and Jamie’s hair slowly became bed head his eyelids became heavier. Soon, his breathing regulated too and his head leaned back even further, sinking into the chair.

Jamie’s eyes opened as he glanced over Kevin asleep on the chair. He should have offered him a pillow or something. He slowly inched his legs towards the side of the bed and to the floor, the rest of his body slowly helping him to get up. He put on his slippers to quietly make his way to his closet, pulling out a hoodie and jeans, and grabbing a pair of sneakers. He slowly undressed himself from his pajamas, his face reddening as he did so. Kevin wasn’t conscious but he was still standing there in his boxers in front of him. He pulled on the hoodie, making a strained noise as his head briefly got stuck in the hood. He pulled on the jeans and slipped into the sneakers, gently trying not to make the floor creak as he walked to the door and into the hallway, the door quietly groaning as he closed it, leaving the only sound in the room Kevin softly snoring.  
\--

Kevin gently awoke as he straightened his back from sleeping in a chair. The clock showed that it was about 11:00 pm. His eyes glanced over to the bed to check on Jamie, then causing him to realize there was no Jamie. His pulse suddenly quickened. It was his job to make sure Jamie was safe as he slept and he wasn’t even there. He sat up rapidly and looked around the room, checking to see if he was doing something else. He looked to his bathroom door, maybe he was just getting a glass of water, but the door was closed and no light was coming through the bottom of the door.  
He looked out into the hallway. If he had been kidnapped or something the guards surely would have stopped them, but he saw no guards there. What was he supposed to do? It was his first day on the job and he had lost him. He was absolutely going to get fired for this..unless he could find him before anyone else noticed he was gone. 

He looked around corners and into empty rooms that Jamie hadn’t even showed him, and it came up dry. He wasn’t in the castle. There wasn’t anywhere else he could have been. He stood hopeless in the empty main room, looking to the large doors. He had to find him before Jamie’s parents put a boot up his ass. He slowly opened the doors and looked out to the cold, long driveway. There was no one there. He took a deep breath and walked along towards the town, thinking of the excuse he would use if someone asked why he wasn’t there, where Jamie had possibly been taken, how he would beat up the kidnapper, how he would beat up the guards for not doing their job. 

It took a good fifteen minutes to make it to town. It was dark and empty, save for some distant light and noise coming from the center of town. There had to be a chance he was taken there. His heart raced as he thought about what was happening. Maybe the crowd was cheering as the kidnapper punched him in the face. He could feel himself start running. He nearly tripped as he was met with a pile of crates and a random person posed dramatically on top of one. He seemed deep into a monologue. Kevin started to relax, trying to pay attention to the show to calm his nerves. The actor had a hood pulled down over his face, muffling his soliloquy. He felt so ill at ease about finding Jamie the actor had even started to sound like Jamie…...wait.

Kevin craned his neck to get a glance under his hood, seeing a familiar shade of brown hair and the same exact skin tone. It was him, Jamie the prince, propped up on crates performing for a bunch of random citizens. Soon his scene had ended and he bowed as the applause showered him. Kevin came from behind him and yanked on the back of his sweatshirt through the commotion. He yelped as Kevin pulled him around a nearby building to a dark corner. He pushed the hood off of his head, and Jamie’s eyes met his with a scared expression.

“H-he-”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Kevin whisper yelled. 

“Well I-”

“You cram it mister! I wake up to check on you and you weren’t there, the guards weren’t there. I was worried sick!”

“I was just, well, um..well, why’d you leave the castle, you’re supposed to stay there!” Jamie was trying to turn the attention on Kevin, but Kevin wouldn’t let him. 

“Well so were you! You- you’re. You’re grounded!” Jamie gasped.

“You can’t ground me!” 

“Watch me!”

“Is this part of the act?”

When leaning against the window of the car as he was driven to the castle last night, Kevin had never expected this. He hadn’t expected to have to watch Jamie while he slept, to have him run out in the middle of the night, or to have to threaten the prince with grounding. Kevin sighed.

“What did you think you were doing?” Jamie abashedly looked down at the ground next to him. He didn’t answer.

“Let’s just get you back to the castle before everyone starts worrying, okay?” Jamie nodded and let Kevin drag him by the hand, pulling his hood down over his face.

The walk back to the castle was filled with miniscule conversations about everything except what had just happened. Jamie kept his eyes away from Kevin’s, refusing to make eye contact. He was embarrassed, ashamed. He had never expected Kevin to wake up before he made it back, he assumed he was a heavy sleeper. If he did wake up, he’d thought he’d go back to his room or tell the guards on him. He definitely didn’t expect him to go out looking for him. Jamie wouldn’t have thought Kevin cared about him that much. Of course it was probably because it was his job.

The front doors were locked, and Jamie of course did not have a key. Kevin looked up to the large brass knocker. They certainly couldn’t knock, they’d get questioned, yelled at, and maybe even cause an unnecessary news story about sneaking out. Who knows how they’d twist it.

“Well, there is another option.” Kevin looked down to Jamie, who had done his best to be quiet since they began walking back. His gaze went to where Jamie pointed, causing him to look at Jamie again.

“You want to go in through the window? I thought you were supposed to be a goody-two-shoes. Although, I guess you already proved me wrong by sneaking out.”

Jamie moved from his side and towards the side window. He unlatched it and opened it as non suspiciously as possible. It had occurred to Kevin that this was not the first time he snuck in through a window. It was a little intimidating, as was climbing through the window and sneaking throughout the castle towards Jamie’s section. He had actually started to calm down as Jamie opened his bedroom door. He then became less calm as Jamie started to shut his door behind him. Kevin put his foot in the door before he could close it.

“Hey, I still want to talk to you!” Kevin had forgotten it was the middle of the night as he yelled at Jamie. He sighed, and opened the door again, letting him in.

“Fine, just don’t yell anymore.” Jamie picked his pajamas off of the floor and began to change. Kevin turned around and seethed at the wall. He had just started his first day of work and the guy he was supposed to keep an eye on snuck out without so much as a note telling Kevin that he’d be back later.

“Well I hope you had a great time tonight, because you’re not allowed to go out past your bedtime anymore.” Jamie shook his head. There wasn’t any point arguing with Kevin. He was rightfully angry and probably very tired. 

“Just go to sleep, Kevin.” His face distorted to an expression of indignation, completely forgetting that he was technically this man’s servant.

“But- but you just snuck out, without even telling me, prancing around in some weird sho-”

“Go. To. Sleep. We can talk in the morning.” Kevin groaned.

“I’m not going to sleep yet. According to my job description I have to watch over you until you fall asleep, and you’re actually going to stay in your bed this time, okay?” Jamie resigned and got back into his bed. Kevin refused to sit down again, he was going to make sure Jamie went to sleep. Though he was a little mad, he wanted Jamie to get some rest.

“It’s just, that’s the only outlet I have in this boring place.” Kevin looked down at Jamie, laying on his side and facing away from Kevin.

“The only thing I can do here is just, live. It’s not like I ever make any public appearances, and if I do I don’t get to talk, much less perform.” Kevin wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. He shook his head and laughed gently.

“Fine. But next time, just leave a note?” Jamie nodded on his pillow. He didn’t say anything else. He had to have either fallen asleep or just gotten tired of talking.

“Sweet dreams, Jamie. Get some rest, okay?” He saw Jamie nod slowly again. He then opened his door and made to leave before looking back to Jamie. He felt kind of bad for him. He thought he didn’t make public appearances because he was just introverted, and yet he had been yearning for a chance to shine so much he had gone out to perform in the middle of the town. He gave a gentle smile before leaving for his room, swearing he saw a patch of blonde hair as he walked.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Kevin had a constant feeling of anxiety. Jamie had snuck out in the middle of the night and he had to zip down to town just to tear him from performing so he could get some sleep. Of course it wasn’t just because he didn’t sleep in his bed, it was more because he didn’t stay in it. He had hoped Jamie would have at least waited a few days to start dicking around in the middle of the night. Kevin wasn’t entirely sure if it was his responsibility to fetch him from town but he ran around for him anyway. He wondered if anyone else knew he habitually snuck out.

He had not been told it was also his job to wake Jamie up but to save himself from having to talk to Ronaldo again he decided to just go anyway. The silver in the hall reflected dimly as he walked past it. He knocked gently on the door, assuming Jamie would try to sleep in after his excursion last night. It might have been his job, yet he didn’t understand why he couldn’t just use an alarm clock. They had existed for so long and yet they couldn’t seem to wrap their heads around how to press a few buttons.

“Hey Jamie, you in there this time?” There was no answer. Either Jamie had snuck out once more after he left or he was sleeping like a rock. There was only one way to find out.

He wasn’t sure if he was allowed to open his bedroom door without Jamie’s permission, but his agenda stated that he was responsible for waking him up. He had been given instructions on basic things to do throughout the day and this was the first stop. His door seemed to creak way too much just opening it slightly. His room was dark and barely a sliver of light came around the sides of the heavy velvet curtains. Looking over to his bed, Jamie was laying on his stomach, spread out and out like a light. For a prince, he wasn’t exceptionally graceful. Yet he managed to still be so beautiful.

“Oy, you alive down there?” Kevin had decided it was better to start with a verbal wake up, but to no avail. He leaned down near Jamie’s ear.

“If you don’t get up now I will blab to your parents about your late night run.” He saw Jamie’s eyes open abruptly and looking back at Kevin. 

“I suppose I could rise from my slumber. Maybe.” Kevin pulled back and watched him roll off his bed and walk over to his closet.

“So am I supposed to dress you or is that an outdated rule?” 

“I’ll try to do it myself but I’ll call for you if I need you.” Jamie picked out an exact copy of the elegant outfit he wore yesterday. Either he wasn’t allowed to wear anything else, or he just really liked that ensemble. He walked over to the other side of his room in front of the mirror and began to take off his pajamas. Kevin turned around, closely examining the wallpaper in front of him.

“Hmmm.” Jamie was fixing his hair, flipping a section of hair between both parts, trying to see which side it looked best on. He finally decided on a side and looked over to his side table for his crown. He stared at himself in the mirror, steadily placing it in the middle of his head.

“There we go.”

“Lookin’ good. Where are you going dressed all fancy?” Jamie shook his head, careful not to let his crown fall off. 

“I think there’s a meeting today, so I’ve got to look nice.” 

“You can’t go to that. Tsk tsk.” Jamie turned around to look at him with a confused look on his face.

“Still grounded.” Jamie processed his words for a few seconds before realizing what he was talking about. He was referencing last night when after discovering Jamie performing in the middle of the town, Kevin had ‘grounded’ him. He pouted and rolled his eyes.

“You can’t ground me, Kevin. I can ground you though. Somehow. I’ll find a way.” Kevin scoffed and ruffled the hair on the back of his head, catching his crown as it started slipping.

“You wouldn’t dare.” Jamie walked over to his vanity, and put on chapstick as Kevin watched him. He wondered if grounding was a legitimate punishment he could receive from the royal staff, and exactly what grounding meant here.

Jamie picked up a little pad of paper off his desk and examined what he wrote on it. From looking over his shoulder, Kevin guessed they were notes for what he’d have to talk about. He mumbled conversation points and such under his breath as his eyes glossed over what he’d written down.

“Oh, we better get going.”

“You don’t even get a breakfast break?” Jamie explained he usually ate after the things he had to do in the morning in order to sleep in.

Last night, Kevin had learned that Jamie loved to be in the spotlight, in terms of acting of course, but he was remarkably silent during meetings. It was mostly just his parents doing the talking while Jamie picked at the table. Kevin had also learned that as a right-hand butler, it was his job to be standing for the whole hour and a half. He was already bored, and now he felt like collapsing. 

Jamie would look back to him whenever someone would say something stupid, prompting Kevin to snicker under his breath, garnering dirty looks from some other officials. It was clear Jamie didn’t like to take this stuff very seriously, Kevin wondered if he actually had any responsibilities. It would be fun, occasional boring meetings were a small price to pay for just getting to live in a castle without having much he had to do. 

“Meeting is adjourned.” The surrounding officials began random conversations with one another as soon as they were permitted to stop caring. People began filtering out, continuing on with their day. 

“I hate to have to ask you this, but stop looking at me like that when someone acts dumb, if I laugh one more time they’ll probably kick me out.” Jamie giggled, leading Kevin back through the hallway. 

“Well what else am I supposed to do, it’s really boring. Besides, you’re the only person here I can joke with.” Kevin smiled softly to himself, now knowing Jamie already considered him a friend. He believed that after zipping around town to fetch him in the middle of the night, there had to be at least some bond that was formed.

Jamie walked slowly, waiting for all the other people in the corridor to go to their respective rooms or offices. When they were gone, Jamie stopped in his tracks, making Kevin accidentally slam into his back.

“Ow, those things on your shoulders are cutting into mine. Why are they so sharp?” 

“They’re decorative. Although I have cut myself on them a few times, I wish they were a little more practical. Here.” Jamie raised his hand and pointed to a plaque on the wall.

“‘ In memory of William Dewey the… seventh?’” Jamie shook his head. He pushed the plaque into the wall slightly, causing the shelf of china on the other wall to move aside, revealing a small room. 

“Wh- I thought there were only secret rooms in movies.” Jamie smiled, knowing he had successfully bewildered Kevin.

“Isn’t it neat?” 

“And just when I thought you couldn’t top it.” Kevin walked towards the entrance, peering inside at a large bookshelf and a desk covered in stationery and more books. Upon inspecting the spines of the books, they seemed to be books of plays, performances, and poetry.

“Nice place you’ve got here. Is this like your secret lair or something?” Jamie stood next to his table, giving Kevin a chance to look around. He opened some books and flipped through them, looking over the art that Jamie loved so dearly.

“Oh I get it, you’re a nerd. Just kidding.” He corrected himself seeing Jamie looking slightly embarrassed at the dorkiness of his secret room. He went to the opening and pulled the shelf over, once again concealing the room.

“This used to be a safe room for raids, but it’s probably been centuries since it’s been used for anything. So I decided, if nobody else was going to use it, I might as well make it mine. For instance, the play books and writing stuff.”

“You did say that you loved acting. What is this, Shakespeare or something?” Jamie nodded, pointing around the room at different sections, showing written performances by other authors and books of old poetry from people Kevin had never heard of.

“Since I’m a prince, I can’t really do anything except be locked up in this castle all day every day. I tried to convince my parents to get a theater here, and they did, but the only actors were jesters and I wasn’t allowed to perform. They thought acting was just for making a fool of yourself.”

Jamie seemed a little upset at admitting the last part, that his hobby was treated as foolish and laughable. The only time he acted to make the audience laugh was during a comedy. Performing in the middle of town in the dark of night with a hood over his face and civilian clothes was the only way he would be taken seriously. 

“A while back I went into town at night because my parents were away at a neighboring kingdom, and I saw people joyously performing. Not jesters, real people. They weren’t laughed at unless they were trying to make people laugh.”

Kevin grinned. Jamie’s eyes lit up when he was in here, looking around at his mini palace. He knew the contents of every shelf, the words in every book. It was clear he’d spent a lot of time here, making this place his own. There was some sort of hidden aesthetic in here, the scent of pages and ink was surprisingly relaxing.

“And.. the stationery? You write your own?” Jamie’s face started to flush.

“Well, I suppose. It’s not that great though. I do mostly poetry, but I’m not as good at them as the people in the books I have.” 

“Can I read some?” Jamie’s eyes widened. He stammered, giving excuses saying that his writing wasn’t good.

“I, I guess. Just don’t judge it too hard.” Kevin shrugged as he picked up a piece of paper from the desk. As if there was any way his writing wouldn’t be as beautiful as he anticipated. After all, there were a few brief moments before he’d pulled Jamie aside to ground him, and the way he spoke was so rhythmic and graceful.

“This is really good. You’re pretty talented.” Jamie spluttered at the compliment, trying to find the words to answer. 

As Kevin had predicted, there weren’t many things that Jamie was in charge of, if any. This led to them spending at least an hour in Jamie’s hideout. It was interesting learning about how passionate Jamie was about the art of performing. It was cute seeing Kevin try to pronounce some of the big words in Jamie’s writings. They had barely noticed the time passing until they heard voices on the other side of the wall.

“Do you have like another meeting or anything?”

“No, that was all I had to do today. Here, look.” Jamie backed up from listening against the wall to point to a box of snacks.

“You hungry?”  
\--

Kevin was happy that Jamie had turned out to be more than a boring royal official. He was passionate about what he loved, and he was exceptionally talented. His first impressions from growing up seeing him hiding in the shadows on TV during addresses couldn’t have been further from the truth. He wrote eloquently, and he so yearned for the spotlight that he’d sneak out in the middle of the night to act. 

Every night since the first, Kevin had gotten used to Jamie’s habit of sneaking out. Once he was aware of the reason he strived to perform, his only concern with his running off was that he wasn’t getting enough sleep. Besides, it was his job to stay in the room with Jamie until he fell asleep, and now there was nobody there to wait for, so he’d just walk back to his room. It was weird watching Jamie sneak out in street clothes when he was sure everyone else was asleep and having to stay. He was never exactly sure what to do with himself when Jamie left, standing alone in his silent room.

“Alright, goodnight Kevin. I’ll see you in the morning.” Kevin watched him pull on his hoodie, then pulling the hood over his head, assuming his ‘secret identity’. He had to wonder if the hood actually stopped people from recognizing him or the people in the audience just didn’t care.

“Do you ever sleep through the night?” Jamie stopped, pulling the hood back off. 

“Well, not really. I get back at about 2 am or something, so I get to sleep for about three hours. That’s better than no hours.” Kevin shook his head.

“Why, you worried about me?” 

“Maybe. You need sleep to function, Jamie. Just because you don’t have anything to do here doesn’t mean that you don’t have to sleep.”

Jamie looked down at the floor, thinking about what he said. He had been sneaking out for a very long time, he was used to getting only a few hours of sleep. He functioned just as well as he would if he got more, but it would be nice to sleep the whole night. Still, the desire to go down to town and act always outweighed a good night’s sleep. It was routine at this point, if he tried to sleep the whole night he’d just lay awake at night.

“Come with me.” 

“What?”

“Come with me. You can watch me, if you want, of course.” Kevin stared at him in surprise, then mulled it over in his head. He did feel pretty alone when Jamie left, and when he went to find him the first night, watching him act was wondrous.

“Fine, but only as your escort.”

“Huh?”

 

“I mean, you’re the king’s son, running around downtown in the dead of night. What if someone had a grudge against the royal family and hurt you or something? How you’ve managed to sneak around all this time without getting hurt with only a hood to hide your face is totally beyond me.” 

“Well then, you’d better keep me safe, huh?” 

“I’ll get the casual clothes I packed from my room.”


End file.
